Systems and methods for graphically enabled retirement planning

ABSTRACT

According to some embodiments, a system may categorize a first set of user goals as basic expenses and a second set of user goals as optional expenses. Icons associated with the basic expenses may be graphically displayed in a first screen area, and icons associated with the optional expenses may be graphically displayed in a second screen area. An indication that a selected icon is to be associated with one of the first or second areas may be received from a remote user. Based on the received indication, a user goal associated with the selected icon may be re-categorized (e.g., as a basic or optional expense).

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/493,005 entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR GRAPHICALLY ENABLED RETIREMENT PLANNING” and filed Jun. 3, 2011. The entire contents of that application are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

A person may be interested in learning about and planning for their financial future, especially as it relates to his or her retirement. For example, a person may have certain goals and/or expenses that may need to be balanced with likely monthly income that will be available after retirement (e.g., from Social Security or a retirement pension) and any assets owned by the person (e.g., a 401(k) savings account). The calculations associated with such a balance can depend on a number of different factors, such as a person's age, date of retirement, predicting inflation rates, etc. Many people may find these types of calculations and decisions associated with their retirement options to be confusing and even intimidating. As a result, some people avoid planning for their retirement.

It would therefore be desirable to provide systems and methods to efficiently and accurately facilitate financial planning associated with retirement goals.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to some embodiments, systems, methods, apparatus, computer program code and means may be provided to efficiently and accurately facilitate financial planning associated with retirement goals. In some embodiments, a first set of user goals is categorized as basic expenses and a second set of user goals is categorized as optional expenses. Icons associated with the basic expenses may be graphically displayed in a first screen area, and icons associated with the optional expenses may be graphically displayed in a second screen area. An indication may be received from a remote user that a selected icon is to be associated with one of the first or second areas. Based on the received indication, a user goal associated with the selected icon may be re-categorized (e.g., as a basic or optional expense).

Some embodiments comprise: means for categorizing a first set of user goals as basic expenses and a second set of user goals as optional expenses; means for graphically displaying icons associated with the basic expenses in a first screen area; means for graphically displaying icons associated with the optional expenses in a second screen area; means for receiving from a remote user an indication that a selected icon is to be associated with one of the first or second areas; and means for re-categorizing a user goal associated with the selected icon based on the received indication.

A technical effect of some embodiments of the invention is may be an improved and computerized method of performing financial planning associated with retirement goals. With these and other advantages and features that will become hereinafter apparent, a more complete understanding of the nature of the invention can be obtained by referring to the following detailed description and to the drawings appended hereto.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is block diagram of a system according to some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a method according to some embodiments of the present invention.

FIGS. 3 through 13 illustrate retirement planning displays according to some embodiments.

FIG. 14 is an example of a retirement planning display for a mobile device in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 15 is an example of a retirement planning display for a PC web browser in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 16 is an example of a retirement planning platform according to some embodiments.

FIG. 17 is a tabular portion of a retirement planning database according to some embodiments.

FIG. 18 illustrates a method in accordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is block diagram of a system 100 according to some embodiments of the present invention. In particular, a remote user device 110 may submit retirement planning information to a retirement planning platform 120. According to some embodiments, multiple remote user devices 110 may submit retirement information to the retirement planning platform 120 via a web browser and/or a plug-in for a web browser. Note that some or all of the functions described with respect the retirement planning platform 120 might be performed instead by the user device 110 itself The remote user devices 110 might comprise, for example, Personal Computers (PCs), laptop computers, and/or wireless telephones that can transmit retirement data to the retirement planning platform 120.

According to some embodiments, the “automated” retirement planning platform 120 may help a user explore and/or organize retirement goals. As used herein, the term “automated” may refer to, for example, actions that can be performed with little or no human intervention. By way of example only, the retirement planning platform 120 may be associated and/or communicate with a PC, an enterprise server, or a database farm. Moreover, according to some embodiments, a model 122 (e.g., a multi-dimensional and/or weighted model) at the platform 120 may facilitate financial predictions and/or planning.

As used herein, devices, including those associated with the retirement planning platform 120, and any other device described herein may exchange information via any communication network (not illustrated in FIG. 1) which may be one or more of a Local Area Network (LAN), a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a proprietary network, a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) network, a Bluetooth network, a wireless LAN network, and/or an Internet Protocol (IP) network such as the Internet, an intranet, or an extranet. Note that any devices described herein may communicate via one or more such communication networks.

Although a single retirement planning platform 120 is shown in FIG. 1, any number of such devices may be included. Moreover, various devices described herein might be combined according to embodiments of the present invention. For example, in some embodiments, the retirement planning platform 120 and a retirement planning database 150 might be co-located and/or may comprise a single apparatus. Moreover, according to some embodiments, internal data 160 (e.g., data about a user's financial accounts) and/or third-party data 170 (e.g., a dynamic governmental interest rate) may be used to supplement the information in the retirement planning database 150. Note that the internal data 160 and/or third-party data 170 might also be provided directly to the platform 120 and/or model 122 (e.g., as illustrated by the dashed arrow in FIG. 1).

The system 100 of FIG. 1 may be used to help a person explore various options associated with his or her retirement in a way that is simple to understand. For example, FIG. 2 illustrates a process 200 that might be performed, for example, by some or all of the elements of the system 100 described with respect to FIG. 1 according to some embodiments. The flow charts described herein do not imply a fixed order to the steps, and embodiments of the present invention may be practiced in any order that is practicable. Note that any of the methods described herein may be performed by hardware, software, or any combination of these approaches. For example, a computer-readable storage medium may store thereon instructions that when executed by a machine result in performance according to any of the embodiments described herein.

The process 200 may be performed to facilitate a person's understanding and/or organization of retirement information. Pursuant to some embodiments, at S210 a first set of user goals may be categorized as “basic” expenses. These expenses might be considered things that must be provided for in retirement, such as (i) housing expenses, (ii) automobile expenses, (iii) food expenses, (iv) health care expenses, and/or or (v) utility expenses. Similarly, a second set of user goals may be categorized as “optional” expenses. These expenses might be, for example, things that might be “nice to have” in retirement, such as (i) travel expenses, (ii) entertainment expenses, (iii) family expenses, (iv) housing expenses (e.g., associated with a second vacation home), (v) education expenses, and/or (vi) charity expenses.

At S220, icons associated with the basic expenses may be graphically displayed in a first screen area. Similarly, at S230 icons associated with the optional expenses may be displayed in a second screen area. For example, icons associated with basic expenses might be displayed on the left portion of a computer screen while icons associated with optional expenses are displayed on the right portion. One example, of such a display is described herein in connection with FIG. 5.

At S240, an indication may be received from a remote user that a selected icon is to be associated with one of the first or second areas. For example, the user might click on an icon to “drag and drop” the icon to a different area of the computer screen. At S250, a user goal associated with the selected icon may be re-categorized based on the received indication. For example, an expense that was originally categorized as an “optional” expense might be re-categorized as a “basic” expense.

In accordance with the basic and optional expenses, a retirement planning system may interact with the user to help him or her explore various retirement planning options. For example, the system might determine predictable monthly retirement income associated with the user along with retirement assets associated with the user. A financial gap associated with the user might then be calculated representing the different between the income the user may need and the income the user can currently count on. The gap might be based at least in part on, for example, (i) a user age, (ii) a spouse age, (iii) a current income, and/or (iv) a retirement age. The system might also graphically generate a retirement planning report for the user and/or automatically facilitate a posting of retirement information associated with the user to a social media web site.

According to some embodiments, the retirement planning system may interact with a user via an easy to understand Graphical User Interface (“GUI”). For example, FIGS. 3 through 13 illustrate retirement planning displays according to some embodiments. In particular, FIG. 3 illustrates a retirement planning display 300 wherein a nameplate icon 310 may let a user provide his or her name or other identifier. A virtual computer monitor 320 a or virtual handheld device 320 b may provide training, help, and other retirement planning information to the user. According to some embodiments, the display 300 may work together with an actual handheld device (instead of a virtual handheld device) to exchange retirement planning information with a user. A folder icon 330 may be used to receive categorized expenses from the user, a pen icon 340 may be used to enter income and asset data, and a statement icon 340 may provide a summary of a user's retirement goals. Finally, a report icon 360 may be selected to generate a retirement report for the user.

FIG. 4 illustrates a retirement planning display 400 that might be provided, for example, when a user selects the folder icon 330 of FIG. 3. The display 400 may let a user enter information about retirement expenses, such as travel, entertainment, family, housing, educational, and/or charitable expenses. After a user selects the expenses that he expects to be relevant to his or her retirement, he or she may categorize the expenses via a retirement planning display 500 such as the one illustrated in FIG. 5. In particular, the display 500 includes a first area for “must-have” expense icons and a second area 520 for “nice-to-have” expense icons. The user may then move icons to the appropriate areas 510, 520.

FIG. 6 illustrates a retirement planning display 600 that may receive predictable monthly retirement income information from a user. The predictable monthly income might be associated with, for example, Social Security payments and/or a pension. FIG. 7 illustrates a retirement planning display 700 that may receive retirement asset information from a user. The retirement assets might be associated with, for example, a 401(k) savings account or an Individual Retirement Account (“IRA”).

FIG. 8 illustrates a retirement planning display 800 that might receive current income information, retirement age in formation, and/or current age information associated with a user and/or his or her spouse. FIG. 9 illustrates a retirement planning display 900 that may be used, for example, to help a user estimate how much income they will need during retirement (e.g., on a monthly basis) based on his or her current income and basic expenses categorized via the display 500 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 10 illustrates a retirement planning display 1000 that may help a user figure out which predictable income sources may be used to fund the “must-have” expenses categorized via the display 500 of FIG. 5. For example, Social Security, pension, annuity, and/or other sources may be used to fund those expenses. If there is a gap between a person's available retirement income and retirement expenses, he or she may access a retirement planning display 1100 such as the one illustrated in FIG. 11. In particular, a gap value is visually illustrated on the display and a user may drag and drop coin icons to convert retirement assets into retirement income (e.g., based on a predicted interest rate). That is, the system may display a graphical representation of the retirement assets associated with the user in an asset area of the display (e.g., illustrated as a pile of coin tokens in FIG. 11). The system may also display a graphical representation of the predicable monthly retirement income in an income area of the display (e.g., illustrated as a personal check in FIG. 11). The system may then receive from the user an indication that a token is moved between the income and asset areas of the display (e.g., the coin token being dragged from the pile of coin tokens to the personal check as illustrated by the dotted line in FIG. 11). Responsive to said receiving, the system may re-calculate the financial gap and adjust the graphical display of the financial gap based on the re-calculation (e.g., the vertical monthly retirement income bar of FIG. 11). Note that a single coin token might represent a pre-determined monetary value (e.g., $1,000) or a pre-determined portion of another value (e.g., 10% of the user's assets).

FIG. 12 illustrates a retirement planning display 1200 that includes one or more icons 1210 that a user might select to share retirement information via a social media web site, such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. The display 1200 further includes an icon 1220 may generate a personalized retirement summary for the user. For example, FIG. 13 illustrates a retirement planning display 1300 that summarizes a user's retirement information, including monthly retirement expenses, guaranteed retirement income, retirement assets, and repositioned assets that may be converted to lifetime income.

Note that any of the displayed described herein might be provided by a PC or any other device. For example, FIG. 14 is one example of a retirement planning display 1400 on a mobile device according to some embodiments. The mobile device may be any of a number of different types of mobile devices that allow for wireless communication and that may be carried with or by a user. For example, in some embodiments, the mobile device might comprise an iPhone® from Apple, Inc., a BlackBerry® from RIM, a mobile phone using the Google Android® operating system, a portable or tablet computer (such as the iPad® from Apple, Inc.), a mobile device operating the Android® operating system or other portable computing device having an ability to communicate wirelessly with a remote entity such as an retirement planning platform or engine.

The retirement planning display 1400 may let a user submit retirement data to a retirement planning platform. For example, the user may select and/or move expenses from an area 1410 of the display in order to characterize the expenses as a “must-have” or a “nice-to-have” expense (e.g., basic or optional expenses).

The retirement planning display 1400 may let a user submit retirement data to a retirement planning platform. For example, the user may select and/or move expenses from an area 1410 of the display in order to characterize the expenses as a “must-have” or a “nice-to-have” expense (e.g., basic or optional expenses). Similarly, FIG. 15 illustrates a web browser and/or plug-in display 1500 (e.g., associated with an Adobe Flash interactive presentation) that may let a user submit retirement data to a retirement planning platform. As before, the user may select and/or move expenses from an area 1510 of the display in order to characterize the expenses as a “must-have” or a “nice-to-have” expense.

Note that embodiments described herein may be implemented in any number of different ways. For example, FIG. 16 is a block diagram overview of a retirement planning platform 1600 according to some embodiments. The retirement planning platform 1600 may be, for example, associated with the system 100 of FIG. 1. The retirement planning platform 1600 comprises a processor 1610, such as one or more commercially available Central Processing Units (CPUs) in the form of one-chip microprocessors, coupled to a communication device 1620 configured to communicate via a communication network (not shown in FIG. 16). The communication device 1620 may be used to communicate, for example, with one or more remote user devices. The retirement planning platform 1600 further includes an input device 1640 (e.g., a mouse and/or keyboard to enter retirement rule and/or model adjustments) and an output device 1650 (e.g., a computer monitor to display reports and/or aggregated results to an administrator).

The processor 1610 also communicates with a storage device 1630. The storage device 1630 may comprise any appropriate information storage device, including combinations of magnetic storage devices (e.g., a hard disk drive), optical storage devices, mobile telephones, vehicle computers, and/or semiconductor memory devices. The storage device 1630 stores a program 1612 and/or retirement planning engine 1614 for controlling the processor 1610. The processor 1610 performs instructions of the programs 1612, 1614, and thereby operates in accordance with any of the embodiments described herein. For example, the processor 1610 may categorize a first set of user goals as basic expenses and a second set of user goals as optional expenses. Icons associated with the basic expenses may be graphically displayed by the processor 1610 in a first screen area, and icons associated with the optional expenses may be graphically displayed in a second screen area. An indication that a selected icon is to be associated with one of the first or second areas may be received from a remote user (e.g., via communication device 1620). Based on the received indication, a user goal associated with the selected icon may be re-categorized by the processor 1610 (e.g., as a basic or optional expense).

The programs 1612, 1614 may be stored in a compressed, uncompiled and/or encrypted format. The programs 1612, 1614 may furthermore include other program elements, such as an operating system, a database management system, and/or device drivers used by the processor 1610 to interface with peripheral devices.

As used herein, information may be “received” by or “transmitted” to, for example: (i) the retirement planning platform 1600 from another device; or (ii) a software application or module within the retirement planning platform 1600 from another software application, module, or any other source.

In some embodiments (such as shown in FIG. 16), the storage device 1630 stores a retirement planning database 1700 (described with respect to FIG. 17), an internal database 1660 (e.g., storing account information associated with a user), and a third-party database 1670 (e.g., storing governmental interest rates that may be used in connection with retirement planning calculations). According to some embodiments, the storage device 1630 further stores a report database 1680 includes summary reports that have been generated for users. Note that the databases described herein are examples, and additional and/or different information may be stored therein. Moreover, various databases might be split or combined in accordance with any of the embodiments described herein.

Referring to FIG. 17, a table is shown that represents the retirement planning database 1700 that may be stored at the retirement planning platform 1600 according to some embodiments. The table may include, for example, entries identifying users who access the retirement planning platform 1600. The table may also define fields 1702, 1704, 1706, 1708, 1710 for each of the entries. The fields 1702, 1704, 1706, 1708, 1710 may, according to some embodiments, specify: a user identifier 1702, a user age 1704, user income sources 1706, user assets 1708, and user expenses (characterized) 1710. The information in the retirement planning database 1700 may be created and updated, for example, whenever data is submitted via remote user devices.

The user identifier 1702 may be, for example, a unique alphanumeric code identifying a user who is planning for his or her retirement. The user age 1704 may represent, for example, the user's current age, a predicted retirement age, and/or an age associated with a spouse. The user income sources 1706 may include, for example, predicable sources of income for the user during his or her retirement. The user assets 1708 may represent, for example, bank accounts, real estate, stocks, and/or other assets owned by the user. The user expenses (characterized) 1710 might include, for example, “basic” or “must-have” expenses as well as “optional” or “nice-to-have” expenses. Thus user may have characterized the user expenses, for example, via a graphically display such as the one illustrated in FIG. 5.

Although specific examples of information that might be stored in a retirement planning system have been described herein (e.g., in connection with the retirement planning database 1700, the internal database 1660, and/or the third party database 1670), note that many other types of information might be used in addition to, or instead of, the examples provided. For example, debt information, financial modeling information, and/or a user name and/or password associated with a social media web site might also be stored.

FIG. 18 illustrates a process 1800 that might be performed, for example, by some or all of the elements of the system 100 described with respect to FIG. 1 according to some embodiments. At S1810, supplemental data associated with a user's retirement planning may be received. For example, the system may be associated with an insurance provider and the supplemental data may comprise internal data to the insurance provider, such as (i) a policy holder name, (ii) information about the user's financial accounts, and/or (iii) an insurance policy monetary value. According to some embodiments, the supplemental data comprises third-party data such as, (i) information about the user's financial accounts (e.g., from a bank or credit score source), (ii) an interest rate, and/or (iii) a dynamic governmental interest rate.

At S1820, a first set of user goals may be received from the user as basic expenses along with a second set of user goals as optional expenses. At S1830, predictable monthly retirement income associated with the user may be determined, and retirement assets associated with the user may be determined at S1840. At S1850, a financial gap may be automatically determined for the user based at least in part on the supplemental data, the first set of user goals, the predictable monthly retirement income, and the retirement assets associated with the user.

The following illustrates various additional embodiments of the invention. These do not constitute a definition of all possible embodiments, and those skilled in the art will understand that the present invention is applicable to many other embodiments. Further, although the following embodiments are briefly described for clarity, those skilled in the art will understand how to make any changes, if necessary, to the above-described apparatus and methods to accommodate these and other embodiments and applications.

Although specific hardware and data configurations have been described herein, note that any number of other configurations may be provided in accordance with embodiments of the present invention (e.g., some of the information associated with the databases described herein may be combined or stored in external systems).

Applicants have discovered that embodiments described herein may be particularly useful in connection with retirement planning. Note, however, that other types of financial planning and related products may also benefit from the invention. For example, embodiments of the present invention may be used to in connection with financial, medical, educational, and other types of information.

The present invention has been described in terms of several embodiments solely for the purpose of illustration. Persons skilled in the art will recognize from this description that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described, but may be practiced with modifications and alterations limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims. 

1. A system associated with retirement planning, comprising: a data storage device for storing data associated with a user's retirement planning; a computer processor for executing program instructions and for retrieving said data associated with the user's retirement planning from the data storage device; and a memory, coupled to the computer processor, for storing program instructions for execution by the computer processor to: categorize a first set of user goals as basic expenses and a second set of user goals as optional expenses, graphically display icons associated with the basic expenses in a first screen area, graphically display icons associated with the optional expenses in a second screen area, receive from a remote user an indication that a selected icon is to be associated with one of the first or second areas, and re-categorize a user goal associated with the selected icon based on the received indication.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first set of user goals includes goals associated with at least two of: (i) housing expenses, (ii) automobile expenses, (iii) food expenses, (iv) health care expenses, or (v) utility expenses.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the second set of user goals includes goals associated with at least two of: (i) travel expenses, (ii) entertainment expenses, (iii) family expenses, (iv) housing expenses, (v) education expenses, or (vi) charity expenses.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein execution of the program instructions further results in: determining predictable monthly retirement income associated with the user.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein execution of the program instructions further results in: determining retirement assets associated with the user.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein execution of the program instructions further results in: calculating a financial gap associated with the user.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein execution of the program instructions further results in: receiving from the user information associated with at least one of: (i) a user age, (ii) a spouse age, (iii) a current income, or (iv) a retirement age.
 8. The system of claim 4, wherein execution of the program instructions further results in: graphically generating a retirement planning report for the user.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein execution of the program instructions further results in: automatically facilitating a posting of retirement information associated with the user to a social media web site.
 10. A computer-implemented method associated with retirement planning comprising: categorizing a first set of user goals as basic expenses and a second set of user goals as optional expenses; graphically displaying icons associated with the basic expenses in a first screen area; graphically displaying icons associated with the optional expenses in a second screen area; receiving from a remote user an indication that a selected icon is to be associated with one of the first or second areas; and re-categorizing, by a retirement planning platform, a user goal associated with the selected icon based on the received indication.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first or second set of user goals includes goals associated with at least two of: (i) housing expenses, (ii) automobile expenses, (iii) food expenses, (iv) health care expenses, (v) utility expenses, (vi) travel expenses, (vii) entertainment expenses, (viii) family expenses, (ix) education expenses, or (x) charity expenses.
 12. The method of claim 10, further comprising: determining predictable monthly retirement income associated with the user; and determining retirement assets associated with the user.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein execution of the program instructions further results in: calculating a financial gap associated with the user; and graphically displaying the financial gap to the user.
 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising: displaying a graphical representation of the predicable monthly retirement income in an income area of the display; displaying a graphical representation of the retirement assets associated with the user in an asset area of the display; receiving from the user an indication that a token is moved between the income and asset areas of the display; responsive to said receiving, re-calculating the financial gap; and adjusting the graphical display of the financial gap based on the re-calculation.
 15. The method of claim 10, further comprising: automatically facilitating a posting of retirement information associated with the user to a social media web site.
 16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program instructions adapted to be executed by a computer processor to perform a method associated with retirement planning, said method comprising: categorizing a first set of user goals as basic expenses and a second set of user goals as optional expenses; graphically displaying icons associated with the basic expenses in a first screen area; graphically displaying icons associated with the optional expenses in a second screen area; receiving from a remote user an indication that a selected icon is to be associated with one of the first or second areas; and re-categorizing, by a retirement planning platform, a user goal associated with the selected icon based on the received indication.
 17. The medium of claim 16, wherein the first or second set of user goals includes goals associated with at least two of: (i) housing expenses, (ii) automobile expenses, (iii) food expenses, (iv) health care expenses, (v) utility expenses, (vi) travel expenses, (vii) entertainment expenses, (viii) family expenses, (ix) education expenses, or (x) charity expenses.
 18. The medium of claim 16, wherein execution of the program instructions further results in: determining predictable monthly retirement income associated with the user; determining retirement assets associated with the user; calculating a financial gap associated with the user; and graphically displaying the financial gap to the user.
 19. The medium of claim 18, further comprising: displaying a graphical representation of the predicable monthly retirement income in an income area of the display; displaying a graphical representation of the retirement assets associated with the user in an asset area of the display; receiving from the user an indication that a token is moved between the income and asset areas of the display; responsive to said receiving, re-calculating the financial gap; and adjusting the graphical display of the financial gap based on the re-calculation.
 20. The medium of claim 16, wherein execution of the program instructions further results in: automatically facilitating a posting of retirement information associated with the user to a social media web site. 